Black Belt Eagle Scout Returns with ‘Fantasy,’ a Raw Reflection on Burnout and Healing

Black Belt Eagle Scout is back with “Fantasy,” her first new song in three years. During that time, Swinomish musician Katherine “KP” Paul was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, struggled to walk, and lost the ability to play guitar. “Fantasy” examines the stresses of a capitalist society and the toll they took on her body. The single is accompanied by a music video directed by her cousin Priscilla Hensley and Evan Benally Atwood, featuring Paul’s mother, aunt, and relatives dancing in handmade Iñupiat garments. Watch it below.

“I wrote ‘Fantasy’ during a transition out of the nonprofit world and into making music full time,” Paul explains. “I felt burned out and disconnected from my work. In the Native nonprofit sector, I often felt pressure to be a superwoman representing Native people while trying to fit into systems that did not always reflect who we are as Native people. I reached a point where I no longer wanted to force myself into something that no longer felt right. I wanted to make music, feel free, spend time in the trees, and reconnect with myself outside of those expectations.”

Black Belt Eagle Scout released her latest LP, The Land, the Water, the Sky, in early 2023 and toured heavily in support of it before she had to stop performing abruptly due to health issues.